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The Sinocism China Newsletter 06.19.13–It’s Party Rectification Time?

"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner

Xi Jinping officially kicked off the Communist Party of China’s Mass Line Education campaign, first announced in April, at a meeting Tuesday. As expected, such an important campaign is getting top billing in all official media outlets from Tuesday evening.

This is a big deal and fits in with many of the other efforts Xi has undertaken to fight corruption, make the Party more responsive to the demands and needs of PRC citizens and strengthen the Party’s rule.

Among other things, this mass line campaign, or Party Rectification campaign as Duowei has been calling it for months (习近平亲自上阵 清党整风大幕开启), should dash hopes of a let up in the crackdown on extravagance and luxury. Anyone betting that luxury spending will fully recover in the second half of 2013 needs to be paying attention. Expect cadres who care about staying in the Party and avoiding punishment to be even more frugal and thrifty while this campaign is ongoing.

With “serving the people, being down-to-earth, upright and corruption-free” as its main content, the education campaign could consolidate the CPC’s foundation and position as China’s governing party, boost its creativity, cohesion and combat capabilities, keep its advanced nature and purity, and win public trust and support, Xi said.

Despite the overall good relationship between the Party and the people, Xi reminded party members of mounting hazards they face, namely laxity, mediocrity, distancing themselves from the people and corruption, which can be concluded as “four forms of decadence”: formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

These four forms of decadence are the most hated and complained problems by the people, severely damaging Party-people ties, Xi said, calling for a campaign to spot and correct all these problems.

Xi called the campaign a “thorough inspection, overhaul and cleanup” of undesirable work styles and practices such as formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance.

The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee decided at a conference held in April to launch a campaign to boost ties between CPC members and the public from the latter half of this year.

The campaign will focus on CPC organs and officials at or above the county level who will be required to reflect on their own practices and correct any misconduct.

Xi said the campaign should focus on self-purification, self-perfection, self-renewal and self-progression.

He also raised a metaphorical requirement for CPC members, using the phrase “watching from the mirror, grooming oneself, taking a bath and seeking remedies.”

“Winning or losing public support is an issue that concerns the CPC’s survival or extinction,” Xi stressed.

The mass line requires the Party to give top priority to the interests of the people, share weal and woe with them, maintain the closest possible ties with them and persist in exercising power for them, showing concern for them and working for their interests.

Beijing Institute of Technology political economist Professor Hu Xingdou said Xi’s new mass line campaign had some similarities with Mao’s tactics, but was as far as the Xi administration could go in tackling corruption without introducing genuine political reform.

Here are some examples of official Chinese media coverage of the launch of the campaign:

“We’ve had very blunt conversations about this. They understand, I think, that this can adversely affect the fundamentals of the U.S.-China relationship,” Obama told “The Charlie Rose Show” in an interview broadcast late Monday…

Obama, who has faced criticism at home for disclosures of U.S. surveillance of Americans, said that every nation gathered intelligence but that China went beyond “standard fare,” such as trying to “find out what my talking points are when I’m meeting the Japanese.”

“There’s a big difference between that and a hacker directly connected with the Chinese government or the Chinese military breaking into Apple’s software systems to see if they can obtain the designs for the latest Apple product.

Let’s hope the media can do a better job of clarifying the difference between acceptable and unacceptable cyber activities that President Obama made.

“It’s Christmas in June in Beijing and Snowden is Santa Claus,” says Bill Bishop, who writes Sinocism, a popular daily news digest on China. “If you look at the reactions of the Chinese government over the last few months or a year, specifically to all the allegations of hacking coming out of China, China will say, ‘We’re a victim, too. We are one of, if not the biggest victim of hacking in the world.’ So, now, these revelations come out and they can say, ‘See? We were telling the truth.'”

There is a distinction in the hacking allegations. China’s government is accused of mass spying on U.S. companies for economic advantage. The U.S. is accused of hoovering up huge amounts of private information at home and abroad for what it says is an effort to find terrorists. China’s state-run media has glossed over that nuance, and gone for the jugular.

Today’s Links:

THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT

When liquidity meets control in China [updated with credit crunch probability] | FT Alphaville We think the risk of a credit crunch has definitely increased over the past two weeks. While overall liquidity is still abundant, and the PBC still has a lot of tools to use if it deemed necessary, accidents could happen in the process of changing liquidity provision or cleaning up interbank activities. This is especially so when much of the credit expansion so far has been hidden off balance sheet and often under multiple layers of transactions, liquidity is unevenly distributed, and interbank transactions have made the system highly linked. Therefore, the central bank and other regulators must tread very carefully in the coming months in managing the process to try to minimize the risk of unexpected break in the liquidity chain or unwanted credit crunch.

Related:China Swaps Climb to 2011 High as PBOC Refrains From Adding Cash – Bloomberg “The PBOC has continued to surprise with its refusal to inject liquidity through open-market operations despite extremely high money-market rates,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, a strategist in Hong Kong at Credit Agricole CIB, wrote in a report today. The housing report is “a negative for sentiment as this will make it more difficult for the government to stimulate the economy.”

Related:Urbanization in China — Crooked Timber The NY Times has an interesting, but unsatisfactory, article, on government attempts to promote urbanization in China, with a target of 70 per cent by 2025. The story is mostly about farmers whose land has been acquired by fiat, which fits into well-established journalistic frames. The bigger issue, buried right near the end, is the fact that, under the hukou system of registration, people classed as rural can’t legally live in the city. So, while about 35 per cent of the population is legally urban, the true figure is more like 53 per cent. That makes nonsense of the figures quoted at the beginning of the article, and the suggestion of forced urbanization on a historically unparalleled scale. In reality, the announced target implies a modest slowdown in rural-urban migration, which occurred despite official disapproval.

Related:Alternative Narratives about Chinese Urbanization | Urbanization Project The narrative about forced migration — with its charged language about “top down” approaches (not once but twice,) its reference to the “disastrous Maoist campaign to industrialize overnight” — has an obvious emotional appeal for a popular audience that is comfortable with narratives about good guys and bad guys. The alternative narrative — one about governments all over the world that are trying to cope with the billions of people who want to move to urban opportunity — better captures the deepest and most important undercurrent in the global economy the we and our children will face.

Coal-fired Plants ‘Killed 9,900 in Northern Region in 2011’ – Caixin Some 9,900 people in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region died in 2011 due to pollution from coal-fired power plants, a Greenpeace report released on June 17 says. The environmental advocacy group also said 70,000 people suffered health problems that year that required them to go to the hospital. The research was conducted by Greenpeace and a team led by Dr. H. Andrew Gray, an American pollution expert. It is the first scholarly calculation to be released domestically that details how pollution from coal-fueled power plants has caused premature deaths and severe health problems.

Related:癌症成北京居民死亡首因 1/3癌症亡者因肺癌_网易新闻中心Cancer the top killer again Beijing, for the 6th year in a row // 据介绍，目前慢性病仍是北京居民首要威胁。2012年北京市居民前三位死因分别为恶性肿瘤、心脏病和脑血管病，共占全部死亡人数的73.3%。其中恶性肿瘤已连续6年成为北京市的首位死因。记者注意到，2012年肺癌、肝癌、结肠直肠和肛门癌列为恶性肿瘤死亡的前三位，分别占恶性肿瘤死亡的31.1%、10.6%和9.7%。

China issues new judicial explanation targeting polluters – Xinhua | English.news.cn China’s supreme court and procuratorate jointly issued a new judicial explanation Tuesday that imposes harsher punishments on polluters. The new legal document confronts difficulties in investigating cases of environmental pollution and in convicting polluters, according to a statement issued by the two judicial departments. With more precise criteria for convictions and sentencing, the document is expected to facilitate the work of judges and tighten punishments for polluters, it said.

RelatedChina takes cautious step toward carbon emissions trading | Reuters While the exchange in the southern city of Shenzhen will not immediately lead to a big cut in China’s emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gas, now the world’s highest, it does still represent a statement of intent by Beijing, campaigners said. “This is just a baby step when you look at the total quantity of emissions, but it enables China to establish institutions for carbon controls for the first time,” said Li Yan, head of environmental group Greenpeace’s climate and energy campaign in China.

Related:China Carbon Permits Trade 22% Below Europe on Market Debut – Bloomberg “The meager volume and pre-approved price level of today’s trades is likely to characterize the initial stages of all of China’s seven ETS pilots,” said Richard Chatterton, a London-based analyst for New Energy Finance. China had planned to start all seven pilot programs this year, with Shenzhen’s market followed by Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei. Some of the markets may start in 2014, Xie Zhenhua, vice president of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at today’s ceremony in Shenzhen. He didn’t disclose which exchanges were behind their original schedule

Directors Refuse to Go Naked for Chinese IPOs – Bloomberg As a result, the cost of insurance to cover directors and officers of Chinese companies against lawsuits has skyrocketed, with premiums reaching as high as $100,000 per $1 million of coverage in some cases, up from a range of $10,000 to $15,000 a few years ago. Now, as Chinese firms start listing in the U.S. again and the pace of lawsuits slows, insurance carriers are still charging higher rates and have imposed stricter policy terms, according to brokers, underwriters and directors.

Related:Ambow setback teaches Baring a lesson in China investing | Reuters the Hong Kong-based firm is now sitting on an $43 million paper loss from a $57 million investment in New York Stock Exchange-listed Ambow Education Holdings… A Cayman Islands court ordered Ambow into provisional liquidation earlier this month. Court-appointed partners of KPMG, the global consultancy, arrived at Ambow’s Beijing offices on June 13 to take over management and complete an 11-month investigation into allegations of sham transactions and kickbacks at the schools and training firm. //Who was Ambow’s Auditor?

China May Home Prices Rise as Major Cities Post Record Gains – Bloomberg Prices climbed from a year earlier in 69 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, the most since August 2011, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today. The southern business city of Guangzhou posted the biggest gain with prices rising 15 percent from a year earlier. Beijing prices climbed 12 percent, while they advanced 10 percent in Shanghai. All three cities had their biggest increase since the government changed its methodology for the data in January 2011.

Related:北京等地房产税试点“最终版本”方案或已上报|房产税试点|房价|楼市_新浪财经_新浪网 More rumors about possible property tax in Beijing, no details, convenient timing just after latest news of continued price rises // 房价上涨压力增大，可能将倒逼房产税试点扩围。中国证券报记者18日从权威人士处获悉，近期北京、深圳、南京和杭州等多地房产税试点方案已上报，多数方案已接近“最终版本”。房产税试点可能在近期扩围。

More Russian oil flows to China in strategic shift from Europe | Reuters Russia is steeply ramping up oil deliveries to China, with Asia now importing almost a fifth of oil exports from the world’s largest crude producer in a strategic shift meant by the Kremlin to end reliance on weak and saturated European markets. Russia will increase oil supplies to China by 13 percent in July-September from the previous three months, a shipping schedule obtained by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

New Job for China’s Numbers Crunchers: Finding Better Jobs Data – China Real Time Report – WSJ Grappling with unemployment is a serious matter but the way China’s numbers crunchers tally unemployment has long been a bit of a joke. In good times and bad, China’s official unemployment rate has barely budged. It’s now at 4.1% where it has been since the third quarter of 2010. It has hovered around the 4% level since 2002 (though it plummeted all the way down to 3.6% in 2001).

In China, they built it … and no one came | Video | Reuters.comno need to go to Chengdu to film empty retail spaces, just visit one of the SOHO China properties in Beijing// A building boom tied to China’s economic rise shows no signs of abating, despite slowing growth and excess capacity in some cities. Are commercial ‘ghost towns’ a sign of further trouble to come?

China: official stock-buying didn’t work before and won’t work now | beyondbrics Nan Sheng, a China banking sector analyst with CCB International told beyondbrics that the Central Huijin’s purchase of shares is good for sentiment, but its impact on the market is likely to be small due to the effect of diminishing returns. Huijin’s first shares purchases back in 2008 had a large effect, and even Hong-Kong-listed H-shares rose along with the tide on the mainland, he said. But now investors are used to these interventions and think there will be little long-term impact, especially when they take account of the uncertainty surrounding the macro-economy and the slowing down of banks’ new lending.

Mapping Local Government Debt – Caixin The National Audit Office (NAO) recently published audit results of debt held by 36 local governments by the end of 2012. Central government auditors scoured the financials of 15 provincial governments and their capital cities, three municipalities under the central government’s direct administration and the governments of 1 district in each municipality. The audit covered 903 government departments and affiliated institutions, and 223 financing platforms, reviewing a total of 22,240 projects and 75,559 debt items.

Jiangsu AMC to Open Amidst Controversy -Caijing Many are worried the establishment of local AMCs could further inflate local government debt, giving local financing vehicles the chance to continue borrowing by spinning off toxic assets.

The Yangtze Delta Iron Triangle – Economic Observer For years, transporting people in the Yangtze River Delta region has happened in a V-shape from Hangzhou and Nanjing to Shanghai, but with the opening of a new high-speed railway between Hangzhou and Nanjing, the “Iron Triangle” will be complete and drive the whole region’s economy.

China to Resume IPOs When New Rules Take Effect, Official Says – Bloomberg China will allow initial public offerings only after new rules aimed at boosting protection for investors go into effect, a China Securities Regulatory Commission official with knowledge of the matter said. Companies that have already been cleared by the regulator in a listing hearing will be allowed to proceed with their share sales if they fulfill the new requirements, said the official, who asked not to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The regulator is seeking public feedback on the new rules until June 21.

70% of China exporters see higher revenue in second-half 2013 [Survey] [SURVEY] Results from Global Sources’ latest survey show China suppliers are significantly more optimistic about export growth in the second half of 2013 than they were a year ago. Over 70 percent of the 503 respondents see July to December 2013 exports outperforming the last six months of 2012 in terms of value. This is the first time in the past year-and-a-half that the “increase” option was selected by the heavy majority, the last being in October 2011 when 93 percent of suppliers expressed optimism over first-half 2012 prospects. In contrast, only 59 percent of participants in a similar poll said they expected second-half 2012 income to rise. Beneath the sunny disposition, however, lies caution. Among makers expecting higher revenue this coming half-year, 56 percent think growth will be moderate and will not exceed 20 percent. About one-fifth estimate they will earn up to 30 percent more.

China Insiders Sell Most Shares in May in 4 Years, UBS Says – Bloomberg The biggest sales were in computer-related shares, media and “special equipment” sectors, UBS strategists including Qin Xia wrote in a report dated today. Net stakes rose only in chemical raw materials and telecom operations, while the sell-off in smaller companies as a percentage of the free-float reached new post-2008 highs, they wrote.

Chinese FM Rides Red Flag to Revive Top Home-Made Luxury Auto Brand -Caijing Wang Yi, the foreign minister, chose to ride the newly-unveiled Red Flag H7, said the ministry’s public affairs office Monday on its weibo account, which lifted shares of FAW Car Co., Ltd, the Red Flag manufacturer, by 1.73%. It is the latest effort that the Chinese government has introduced in support of home-grown brands, by purchasing domestic vehicles for government affairs.

CPC’s fight against bureaucracy, formalism making progress: survey – Xinhua | English.news.cn About 72 percent of netizens and 88 percent of grassroots officials surveyed said the biggest improvement in Party members’ work style was made in reducing the number of extravagant receptions held to mark officials’ visits, according to a poll conducted by the People’s Daily between May 29 and June 6. Nearly 2,400 netizens and 500 officials from various provinces participated in the survey, according to the daily.

Liu Zhijun and His Partner in Crime-Caijingvery abridged translation of Caijing cover story // Despite the multi-billion yuan illegal gains Ding acquired with his help, Liu will only be sentenced for taking 64.61 million yuan of bribes, leading some to argue that the existence of a partner in crime may have reduced the cost for Liu to break the law

Jeff Prescott Replaces Julie Smith as Biden’s Deputy National Security Advisor | The Cablesmart decision by the VP // The Cable has learned Jeff Prescott will replace Julie Smith as Biden’s deputy national security advisor. Prescott, special advisor for Asian Affairs at Office of the Vice President, joined the Biden team in 2010 as a White House fellow. Before that, he was deputy director of Yale’s China Law Center. An Asia hand through and through, Prescott accompanied Biden on his 2011 trip to Japan, Mongolia and China and advised him on his visits with then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

Partners in Defense — Beijing Review One of the fruits to have emerged from the first summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama is the official acceptance of the U.S. invitation to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy to participate in the 2014 Rim-Pac exercise. It will provide the Chinese and American navies with a rare opportunity to cooperate in a multilateral setting. However, past experience warns against high expectations. The Chinese military has been invited to some U.S.-sponsored multilateral exercises in the past, but was categorized as a non-ally and given observer status or allowed only limited participation. The Rim-Pac exercise consists of a wide range of scenarios, typically lasting more than two months. The PLA Navy expects its participation to be more substantial than a merely symbolic appearance. It is hoped that China’s participation in the largest regional maritime exercise could be a model for positive and constructive engagement between the two militaries and a real effort to share common interests and responsibilities.

Vietnam, China to enhance ties |china daily Vietnam and China “have huge potentials for further speeding up cooperation in the future,” Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang, who will start his three-day state visit to China from Wednesday at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, said in an interview with Xinhua and other Chinese media on Tuesday. “Vietnam and China are close neighboring countries. The two peoples have shared a long-standing traditional friendship,” the Vietnamese president said. //American media did not get an interview with President Xi before his summit with President Obama

Opinion: Chen Guangcheng, NYU and academic freedom – CNN.com As we go forward, should more such incidents arise, here’s what both sides should do: China, please abandon counterproductive efforts to intimidate foreign institutions and scholars. Ham-fisted bullying only undermines the very soft power that was your goal in the first place, and ticks off the teachers who teach foreigners about China. And deans and provosts at U.S. institutions: Don’t be craven about academic freedom. Join together with other institutions and take a firm, principled stand to support scholars. Don’t be afraid to do what NYU did in hosting a dissident or to take bold steps if China denies a visa to one of your professors. We are the No. 1 global brand in university education, largely because of our principles. Where else is China going to go?

China says Ghana’s arrest of its miners will not harm relations | Reuters The arrests are a sensitive issue for China, which would want to defuse any issue that could stoke popular resentment against its citizens doing business in Africa or threaten its expanding trade relationship with the continent. “This issue of illegal mining is a disharmony in the bilateral relations but we should always have the bigger picture in mind,” said Xuejun Qiu, a director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing.

Changing recruitment period significant for strong army: official – Xinhua | English.news.cn Changing the military recruitment period is key not only in getting better-educated personnel but also maintaining the Chinese army’s combat capability, a military official said Monday. The previous period, which started on Nov. 1, missed the best opportunity of recruiting talented young applicants because the date was nearly six months after graduation season, Mou Mingbin, head of the Conscription Office of the Ministry of National Defense (MND), said in an interview with Xinhua.

CNPC’s Dreams of Pipelines from Myanmar All Blocked Up – Caixin CNPC did not answer questions regarding why domestic work on pipelines is so far behind schedule. However, a source inside CNPC said the oil pipeline was supposed to start operating at the same time as refineries and chemical plants in Yunnan, but work on those projects has been halted due to public protests.

Is Taiwan Part of the ‘Chinese Dream?’ – China Real Time Report – WSJ This week, a top researcher at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, offered up his own idea – and it’s one that’s likely to ruffle some feathers across the Taiwan Strait. “There has been a lot of talk about the Chinese Dream,” Zhang Yunling, director of international studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday. “It involves two parts. First we have to make the country strong, and the people prosperous. Second, another important part of it is to achieve reunification of the motherland.”

Hong Kong Expands Benchmark Rate-Manipulation Probe – Bloomberg The Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s probe, which started with UBS AG (UBSN) in December and has since been widened to “a number” of banks, is continuing, the central bank said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. HKMA said it asked London-based HSBC, whose shares are listed in Hong Kong, to “promptly implement” remedial measures required by Singapore’s central bank last week following a similar probe in the city-state

TECH AND MEDIA

Huawei says has no plans to buy Nokia | Reuters Chinese network equipment and cellphone maker Huawei Technologies Co said it “has no plans to acquire Nokia”, responding to a Financial Times report that it would consider buying the Finish phone maker.

If you are the foreign one – CHINA – Globaltimes.cn Fei Cheng Wu Rao, or If You Are the One, produced by Jiangsu Satellite Television, is the most popular televised dating show in China. Foreigners have become an increasingly common presence on TV shows like Fei Cheng Wu Rao, but despite the large fan base, many are skeptical as to whether the show is actually a route for foreigners to stable relationships – particularly given the cultural differences involved – and whether their increasing presence is merely a ratings grab.

Price war between e-commerce firms hotter| china daily A price war has flared up again among Chinese e-commerce websites, despite government officials accusing them of “fooling consumers with promotional activities” just nine months ago. JD.com, also known as Jingdong, offered heavy discounts on millions of products, including some best sellers, to celebrate its 10th anniversary on Tuesday.

“棱镜门”助推网络基础设施国产化 3股望爆发_证券时报网Securities Times on how Snowden’s exposes may advance use of domestic telecom equipment in Chinese networks, and three Chinese stocks that might benefit…Cisco and other us firms worried yet? And of they get “huawei’d”, there is not much the US can credibly complain about… // 据悉，中国电信163和中国联通169是中国最重要的两个骨干网络，两者承载着中国互联网80%以上的流量。但在这两大骨干网络中，思科占据了70%以上的份额，并把持着所有超级核心节点。此外，思科还是美国政府和军方的通信设备和网络技术设备主力供应商，在2006年美国115个政府部门参与的一场“网络风暴”网络战演习中，思科是演习的重要设计者之一。因此，安全专家担心一旦战争爆发，美国政府极有可能利用思科在全球部署的产品发动网络战，进而对敌国实施致命打击。事实上，华为和中兴在印度和美国不断因“安全”原因被封杀，已然敲响了网络信息安全的警钟。

China’s Mengniu adds another deal with offer for Carlyle’s Yashili | Reuters still will not let my kids ingest mengniu products // The deal with Yashili, which sources all of its products from New Zealand, marks the latest step by China’s milk industry to consolidate the market after several tainted milk scandals tarnished the fragmented sector. It is also the second time since May that a U.S. private equity firm has exited a lucrative investment in a Chinese milk company.

BEIJING

Beers, but no Queers / Blog-that’s Beijing-Urbanatomy MediaOne of Beijing’s most iconic landmarks – the recently opened Galaxy Soho – has become embroiled in controversy after it allegedly moved to prohibit the city’s LGBT community from participating in a craft beer festival it was set to host, on grounds that homosexuals “don’t fit with the site’s architecture.” The space-age style building, designed by Pritzker prize winning architect Zaha Hadid, is due to host this weekend’s second annual craft beer festival, a popular event co-organized by Beijing’s Great Leap Brewing. // I believe Galaxy managed by SOHO China, not a third party. If this report is true, shame on any company that participates unless this bigotry is reversed

Employment | The Jamestown Foundation China Brief Jamestown seeks an Associate Editor/Editor for China Brief, a biweekly publication on Chinese strategic, political and economic issues. The ideal candidate will have online publishing experience, with an interest and background in Chinese affairs and the Asia-Pacific. The position requires substantial research on China, using Chinese-language sources; Mandarin Chinese language proficiency is required. The position is full-time and located in Jamestown’s Washington, D.C. office.

The National Committee On US-China Relations Seeking Social Media/Web Content Manager (pdf) The National Committee seeks a social media and web content manager to help maintain and further develop the National Committee’s online presence. This is a full-time position based in New York City. This position offers an energetic, proactive individual the opportunity to develop social media and online communications for a nonprofit organization that helps to advance a critical bilateral relationship.

Careers at China Economic Review | China Economic Review Editor China Economic Review is seeking an experienced journalist to join its English-language editorial team as editor. Candidates must be independent thinkers who can look at the Chinese economy and policy critically and possess the ability to form nuanced analytical views about a wide range of subjects. CER occupies a unique space in China as an independent publication, which allows our staff to write freely across a broad range of topics